A little bit of an experiment

[Bazzle]

I've written several long stories over the last couple of years. These have resulted in highish scores but low numbers of votes.

In the last couple of weeks I've put up a couple of shorter stories. They have got amazing view to vote ratio...but they have "died" in terms of scores.

Either I'm a useless short story writer (highly plausible!) or peeps are more willing to vote for under a page stories but it as such are very much happy to vote 3.

The number of readers invested enough to go through to page 2 or 3 decrease but potentially they are more willing to give those 4 and 5's?

B

 

[M_K_Babalon]

People will say longer stories are better, some say shorter. Quality of writing will be an affect, but so does catagory.

 

[Lifestyle66]

I've written several long stories over the last couple of years. These have resulted in highish scores but low numbers of votes.

In the last couple of weeks I've put up a couple of shorter stories. They have got amazing view to vote ratio...but they have "died" in terms of scores.

Either I'm a useless short story writer (highly plausible!) or peeps are more willing to vote for under a page stories but it as such are very much happy to vote 3.

The number of readers invested enough to go through to page 2 or 3 decrease but potentially they are more willing to give those 4 and 5's?

B

Long stories where you work to build credible characters, explain their actions, and justify the story arc are ... well, they're for those who have the time, patience, and inclination to read that type of story. And putting that time and effort into reading it, many people don't like to admit they wasted their time. So, they're probably more generous in their ratings (if they bother to rate it.)

Short stories get the views of people all over the board with their reactions. And more of them are likely to let you know.

 

[Duleigh]

The number of readers invested enough to go through to page 2 or 3 decrease but potentially they are more willing to give those 4 and 5's?

Yes. Why would someone keep reading a story they dislike?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Yeah, longer stories tend to score higher, presumably because readers who don't like them didn't make it to the end.

 

[SimonDoom]

8Letters did some empirical analysis of this. Scores on average rise as the story goes from under 1 to 1 to 2 to 3 or more pages. Longer stories do better because they filter out the readers that don't like them--they don't make it to the end. Stories that win contests tend to be longer, like 6 pages or more.

 

[Bazzle]

Thanks all.
It does my mean i'm not as bad at short form writing as I thought I was!

 

[NotWise]

Where do you draw the line between "long stories" and "shorter stories"?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Where do you draw the line between "long stories" and "shorter stories"?

Depends on who you ask. I believe there should be a medium story classification too. For me, short stories can go up to two literotica pages, which is about 7k-7.5k words or so. Medium stories would be between 7.5k and 20k words, and long stories are 20k+ words. Now ask five different people this same question and you will get five very different answers.
My point is that there is no official classification on Literotica, and it is not likely that there will ever be. Things change here with the frequency of Halley's comet perihelion.

 

[Bazzle]

Anything over over 1 page?

 

[Gamblnluck]

Duleigh said: Yes. Why would someone keep reading a story they dislike?

A 2 or 3 page story is not long. I think I have only 1 story/chapter that is that short out of 102.
If I am interested enough to even begin a story of that length (3 or less pages), I will finish it. If the story is say 7 to 8 pages and I am not getting into it, I skip to the comments to see if others liked how the story turned out. Many times I'll read a comment like, "Damn, you wasted the first three pages with bullshit but turned it into a real good story by page 4."

 

[Gamblnluck]

Yeah, longer stories tend to score higher, presumably because readers who don't like them didn't make it to the end.

I don't think so. I think many readers would skip to the end and give it a low score. Then they leave a comment that said 'I tried but couldn't stomach the thing after 3 pages'.
I think fewer reads and high scores are particularly true of long multi chapter novella size stories. It takes an effort to get involved and you get a loyal reader base

 

[EmilyMiller]

8Letters did some empirical analysis of this. Scores on average rise as the story goes from under 1 to 1 to 2 to 3 or more pages. Longer stories do better because they filter out the readers that don't like them--they don't make it to the end. Stories that win contests tend to be longer, like 6 pages or more.

They filter out genuine readers who genuinely didn’t like your work. Not the malicious, who just go straight to the last page.

Em

 

[NotWise]

Anything over over 1 page?

Ah, OK. I think you're having a common experience.

Readers tend to vote low on short stories (8letters did the research to confirm that), but a lot of readers get through to the end, so you get more responses for the views. I think I have one story under a page. It's my lowest-rated story, but it has 900 votes.

For what it's worth, I'd consider a 1-page story to be very short for Lit. For me, the top end of "short" stories is about two full pages.

 

[SimonDoom]

They filter out genuine readers who genuinely didn’t like your work. Not the malicious, who just go straight to the last page.

Em

Yes, but they're enough to make a difference for the score.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Yes, but they're enough to make a difference for the score.

With your readership figures maybe.

Em

 

[Bazzle]

With your readership figures maybe.

Em

To me one single 3 reduces my score to ...3

 

[lovecraft68]

There's an expression 'victim of your own success'. If people equate you with longer stories its what they'll expect. A shorter one could get some new eyes on it, but your core fans may be be upset by it because readers here don't like different, they want the same thing from their fav author.

I'm known for longer slow burn stories. I did a two page stroker a couple years back and its lower scoring than my others, and several comments were along the lines of liking my other stories better. One memorable one stated "Okay, you got that out of your system, now get back to what you're good at"

 

[ElectricBlue]

For what it's worth, I'd consider a 1-page story to be very short for Lit. For me, the top end of "short" stories is about two full pages.

Yes, I agree this. In terms of my own work I consider anything two Lit pages or less to be a "short" story or chapter; 3 - 4 Lit pages a typical story length; and 5 + Lit pages a novella.

 

[Nudeblackgirl]

I've written several long stories over the last couple of years. These have resulted in highish scores but low numbers of votes.

In the last couple of weeks I've put up a couple of shorter stories. They have got amazing view to vote ratio...but they have "died" in terms of scores.

Either I'm a useless short story writer (highly plausible!) or peeps are more willing to vote for under a page stories but it as such are very much happy to vote 3.

The number of readers invested enough to go through to page 2 or 3 decrease but potentially they are more willing to give those 4 and 5's?

B

I had a different experience. My two longest stories had the most votes and also the highest scores (I publish here mostly under the name JazzyG). They aren't super long compared to some here; they approach 20k words each, maybe 5 "lit" pages.

Unfortunately I tend to prefer writing shorter. Those can be all over the board, but I feel like the shortest ones fare worse.

There are all sorts of variables that may come into play. Like, category: Both of my long stories are in the Incest/Taboo category; I think the best in this category require some backstory, rather than just "my sister caught me masturbating and fucked me."

Also, just random factors like where your story shows up on the display page, or what day of the week it hits. I've seen whole threads here dedicated to the impact of your location on the display page.

And there's no doubt in my mind that my longer stories are just much better. More depth, better characters, and slower boil on the sex scenes.

 

[Nudeblackgirl]

I had a different experience. My two longest stories had the most votes and also the highest scores (I publish here mostly under the name JazzyG). They aren't super long compared to some here; they approach 20k words each, maybe 5 "lit" pages.

Unfortunately I tend to prefer writing shorter. Those can be all over the board, but I feel like the shortest ones fare worse.

There are all sorts of variables that may come into play. Like, category: Both of my long stories are in the Incest/Taboo category; I think the best in this category require some backstory, rather than just "my sister caught me masturbating and fucked me."

Also, just random factors like where your story shows up on the display page, or what day of the week it hits. I've seen whole threads here dedicated to the impact of your location on the display page.

And there's no doubt in my mind that my longer stories are just much better. More depth, better characters, and slower boil on the sex scenes.

Sorry, don't mean to sound like a knowitall. Don't know if my input helped, but it's an interesting question.

 

[Nudeblackgirl]

There's an expression 'victim of your own success'. If people equate you with longer stories its what they'll expect. A shorter one could get some new eyes on it, but your core fans may be be upset by it because readers here don't like different, they want the same thing from their fav author.

I'm known for longer slow burn stories. I did a two page stroker a couple years back and its lower scoring than my others, and several comments were along the lines of liking my other stories better. One memorable one stated "Okay, you got that out of your system, now get back to what you're good at"

Yes, very true I think.

 

[StillStunned]

I think you should also bear in mind that the AH crowd are only a tiny portion of Lit's active writers, and probably skew towards spending more time on the hobby and on writing as a serious craft than the average writer.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

With all the analysis, and all the numbers, it still all comes down to the story. Short story or novella, are you engaging your readers the the point they care. I don't do strokers as a general rule. Even the few I have done have a strong romance feel to them and a little conflict that gets resolved. In other words, they're stories.

My top story has 151.7K views and a 4.91/996 rating. It's just under 30K words(8 pages)
My third highest rated has 14.9K views and a 4.89/247 rating. It's less than 7K words(2 pages)
My shortest work has 19.1K views and a 4.69/410 rating. It's only 2.2K words and fits on one page.
My longest has 27.5K views, a 4.71/232 rating, and almost qualifies as a novel at 46.6K words.(13 pages)

The thing is, they're all - good stories(my opinion. you can decide for yourself, if you'd like. The link is below...) that will make you feel something and, in the end, smile.
Naturally there's hot sex in all of them. That's kind if why we're here, right?

I guess what I'm saying is try not to get all wrapped up in analyzing the numbers. Depending on how you look at them, you can make them mean anything you want.
Write what you like. Tell your story. I'm a firm believer that if you write for yourself, the rest will fall into place.

 

[Gamblnluck]

Nudeblack girl said: "

There are all sorts of variables that may come into play. Like, category: Both of my long stories are in the Incest/Taboo category; I think the best in this category require some backstory, rather than just "my sister caught me masturbating and fucked me."

Also, just random factors like where your story shows up on the display page, or what day of the week it hits. I've seen whole threads here dedicated to the impact of your location on the display page.

And there's no doubt in my mind that my longer stories are just much better. More depth, better characters, and slower boil on the sex scenes.

Sorry, don't mean to sound like a knowitall. Don't know if my input helped, but it's an interesting question.



I very much agree. I love a story with some kind of set up. The backstory can be dropped in a little at a time. I do not particularly care for those that start out like a resume. "My name is... My height and weight is.. My wife is ... and her dimensions are. Our work history is..."

Most of the time none of that matters. But to have the MC just turn into a slut as soon as he or she sees the other person's genitals is stupid. In a BDSM story, I want to know how it came to be that the guy bent over for the woman. Or why the woman let herself go.. It is a common trope for the man to ask his wife, "What do you mean it was an accident? Did you just trip and fall and find yourself impaled on his hard cock?"

Maybe in works in a jerk fodder story for the guy to be mowing his yard and the neighbor tells him
for the first time to come over and fuck her. And without another word he does.






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